Chapter Summaries

Han Su used the Emperor's Book to uncover hidden systems in the Ancient Castle and realized he might be repairing a secret prison as one of its components. After deciding to return to the future, gather knowledge about the Mysterious Followers, and investigate the caller's motives, he began leading the children out of the cellar.

• Han Su questioned the mysterious caller, who instructed him to use the Emperor's Book to find a hidden room and mentioned a black-labeled potion in Meat Horn Madam's room that could protect him from the Old Butler.
• Han Su spread Emperor's text across the castle wall and sensed dormant components connected to the Emperor's Book, leading him to suspect that the castle was a secret prison and that he was helping repair it.
• Han Su activated the television in the room beneath the castle and discovered surveillance footage of the monsters, confirming that the room functioned as a guard room.
• Han Su decided to return to the future to study the Mysterious Followers and restart the future, then work with the caller while remaining wary and rescue as many children as possible.
• Han Su knocked the hunchbacked person unconscious, opened the cellar, and told the children to follow him through a secret passage.

Han Su rescued Song Yushi and several children from the Ancient Castle, using Madam Aliyah’s daughter’s birthmark to distract Meat Horn Madam and serum to hold off the Old Butler. He escaped through the keyed passage, while Song Yushi stayed behind and claimed Han Su was the person she had promised to help.

• Han Su took four children upstairs, stole the escape key and black-labeled serum from Madam Aliyah’s room, and opened Song Yushi’s cultivation tank.
• Song Yushi said she remembered Han Su from other worlds and described a long nightmare, then hesitated to leave because she had a responsibility to fulfill.
• Han Su used a girl’s false birthmark to make Meat Horn Madam recoil, but Song Yushi pushed Han Su and the girl toward the exit and stayed behind, saying Han Su was the person she had promised to help.
• Han Su fled with the girl and three other children as the Old Butler rushed downstairs and the half-bodied monster blocked the landing with twisted cables.
• Han Su used his spell and serum to delay the Old Butler, unlocked the escape door, and led the children through it while Song Yushi remained in the Ancient Castle.

Han Su returned to Qinggang on September 12, 2724, one day before the Qinggang City Destruction War, and began changing events to prevent the disaster. After refusing to help Li Moses use him to locate Abyss Studio, Han Su went to the Disaster Management Bureau and asked Zhang Chiguo to make him an Independent Investigator.

• Han Su confirmed that Mechanical Fragment No. 02 had returned him to the main Life Path and contacted Wei Lan to coordinate immediate plans.
• Han Su told Wei Lan to stop Song Chushi from entering Qinggang, investigate four rescued children and three corrupt Qinggang Council members, and quietly search for other Mechanical Fragments.
• Han Su refused Li Moses's request to help locate his mother through Bai Senmang, arguing that the Kidnapping Case was not his mission and that Li Moses lacked authority to order him.
• Li Moses let Han Su leave the D7 Experimental Base and ordered his team to keep searching for Abyss Studio while he sought another authorization.
• Han Su returned to the Disaster Management Bureau and asked Zhang Chiguo to promote him to Independent Investigator.

Han Su sought Zhang Chiguo’s support to become an Independent Investigator and learned that the promotion mission involved the Mechanical Buddha cult at Bai La Mountain. He set out to tackle the mission, where he would also meet Song Chushi and investigate two rescued children, while Wei Lan revealed that Lu Xiaoba was preparing to move against three corrupt Council members.

• Han Su argued that his record and Qinggang’s need for an Independent Investigator qualified him to take the position, and Zhang Chiguo agreed to show him Drunkard’s promotion mission file.
• Cui Qiao explained the dangers at Bai La Mountain, the responsibilities and privileges of Independent Investigators, and the opposition Han Su could face from the Qinggang Council.
• Han Su announced that he would resolve the Bai La Mountain problem within three days and asked Zhang Chiguo to authorize him for the mission when he returned.
• Wei Lan told Han Su that Song Chushi had agreed not to enter Qinggang and wanted to meet him outside the city, so Han Su arranged to meet him at Bai La Mountain.
• Wei Lan revealed that two of the four rescued children were at Bai La Mountain and that Lu Xiaoba had taken on the task of dealing with three criminals on the Council.

Han Su left Azure Harbor for Bai La Mountain to investigate its factions, while Azure Harbor and Abyss Studio separately pursued the mystery behind the failed Seven-Day Divine Descent. The chapter ended with Han Su recognizing Anwei’s name in Doctor’s intelligence report and realizing she might help him approach the An family.

• Han Su sent Doctor and Black Tiger to gather intelligence and depart quickly, while Doctor arranged equipment using Han Su’s forged signature.
• Li Moses failed to anchor Abyss Studio, then decided to investigate the Seven-Day Divine Descent failure by targeting Han Su and seeking Minister An’s approval.
• Ms. Shen ordered Abyss Studio to compare its facility with the Original Blueprint so her husband could be released, and instructed her staff to test whether Han Su carried the Will of Copper.
• Anwei rejected her father An Zenghui’s request to sign off on Li Moses’s move against Han Su and decided to approach Han Su herself near Bai La Mountain.
• Doctor told Han Su that the An family effectively controlled Bai La Mountain’s businesses, and Han Su recognized Anwei’s name in the report.

Han Su and Doctor reached a settlement in the Bai La Mountain region and discovered that a mysterious Iron God Statue cult had spread a custom of carrying scrap metal. When Han Su questioned the settlement’s people-eating rumors, the crowd turned hostile, and he began testing their reaction by shooting a truck driver he suspected of helping enforce the custom.

• Han Su asked Doctor how someone could use dangerous Mysterious Powers while staying safe, and Doctor promised to consider the question before the mission ended.
• After a truck driver repeatedly harassed their jeep, Han Su, Doctor, and Black Tiger followed him into a settlement where nearly everyone carried scrap metal on their backs.
• An old food seller told Han Su that Iron God Statue worshippers had introduced the custom and that people assembled scrap into statues to worship; he reacted with violent fervor when Han Su asked about people being eaten.
• As the settlement’s residents surrounded them, Doctor proposed investigating the cult and its backers before bringing in armed forces.
• Han Su restrained the old seller, shot the truck driver in the legs, and questioned him while watching to see how the scrap-carrying crowd reacted.

Han Su investigated mysterious contamination in the Bai La Mountain region, destroying a scrap-metal idol before confronting Black Inscription security forces blocking the road. He found Hou Zhi Zhu, who had awakened from being controlled and warned that the region had fallen to the remnants of the Copper script.

• Han Su executed the truck driver and faced a hostile crowd whose scrap-metal idol intensified their aggression, then ordered Black Tiger to destroy it with a rotary gun.
• Han Su, Doctor, and Black Tiger drove through the mountains, where they encountered grisly displays and weak mysterious attacks; Doctor deduced that the source was at least clan-level and negotiations were unlikely.
• Han Su discovered a Black Inscription checkpoint and identified Hou Zhi Zhu as the security captain; he told Doctor and Black Tiger to stay back, then used Spiritual Penetration to shatter the checkpoint lights and slipped away.
• Han Su followed radio communications to a metal shed, found Hou Zhi Zhu, and forced him to kill guards after the Black Suitcase triggered a change in his behavior.
• Hou Zhi Zhu told Han Su that Bai La Mountain had fallen completely and that remnants of the Copper script had arrived with twelve Copper Puppets to destroy the Copper Altar and reclaim the Will of Copper.

Han Su learned from Hou Zhi Zhu that Copper Text believers were gathering near Bai La Mountain to reclaim the Will of Copper and might attack Azure Harbor. He kept Hou Zhi Zhu from warning the city immediately and ordered him to infiltrate the believers again, aiming to rise as high as a wild inheritor.

• Han Su used the Mechanical Fragment to restore Hou Zhi Zhu's memories, and Hou Zhi Zhu revealed he was an undercover member of Azure Harbor's Administrative Hall secret operations team.
• Hou Zhi Zhu explained that he had infiltrated the Copper Text believers, become contaminated by their faith, and accidentally disclosed Azure Harbor's secrets.
• Hou Zhi Zhu told Han Su that the Copper Text believers had gathered at Bai La Mountain after sensing the Secret Copper Key's resonance and intended to reclaim the Will of Copper.
• Han Su refused to let Hou Zhi Zhu warn Azure Harbor yet, explaining that he would handle the threat and asking Hou Zhi Zhu to continue gathering intelligence undercover.
• Han Su told Hou Zhi Zhu to rise through the Copper Text believers' ranks, possibly becoming a wild inheritor, leaving Hou Zhi Zhu stunned.

Han Su infiltrated the Copper Believers’ search through Bai La Mountain, devouring their mysterious power and restoring his strength while Hou Zhi Zhu was chosen to hear the Mechanical Buddha’s voice. When Miss An arrived and offered to deal with the investigators in exchange for the promised Mechanical Legion, Han Su recognized her and realized he understood why the Copper Believers had appeared on this Life Path.

• Han Su placed copper blood on Hou Zhi Zhu to conceal his awakened self-awareness and ordered him to keep infiltrating the Copper Believers and report their plans.
• After Han Su found Doctor and Black Tiger, security forces raised an alarm, forcing the three investigators to abandon their jeep and move through the forest on foot.
• Han Su identified the Copper Believers’ ranks and used a Cipher Spell and the Emperor’s Book to absorb the contamination spreading through the forest, restoring his power and disrupting their followers.
• At the Mechanical Buddha’s plaza, the Grand Sacrifice prepared to choose someone to hear the god’s voice, and the idol unexpectedly responded to Hou Zhi Zhu.
• Miss An arrived, offered to deal with the investigators in exchange for the Mechanical Legion, and Han Su recognized her through the copper-blood link.

Han Su studied the Copper Civilization’s rise and collapse, then discovered Anwei had made him a target and that the Copper Believers were constructing a weapon called the Door of Reality and Illusion. Song Chushi arrived to help him face the Candle Yin Eye and explained that the weapon could summon the Copper Civilization at its height to attack Azure Harbor.

• Han Su read the Emperor’s Book and learned how the Copper Civilization had risen, collapsed, and left behind the Will of Copper and its believers.
• Han Su wondered whether his Will of Copper gave him authority over the Copper Believers and the mysterious metal.
• Doctor warned Han Su that a huge eye with a pupil had appeared in the sky and was sending tendrils toward them.
• Anwei admitted she was using Han Su as leverage to negotiate with Abyss Studio, while her assistant warned that the plan could provoke them.
• Song Chushi arrived and identified the eye as the Candle Yin Eye, which could assimilate its target’s mental world.
• Han Su told Song Chushi that the Copper Believers were building the Door of Reality and Illusion, and Song Chushi explained it could summon the Copper Civilization at its height to attack Azure Harbor.

Han Su learned from Song Chushi about Miss Ai’s warning, her origins, and the locks on her sealed machine body. After Song Chushi left to investigate his sister’s possible presence in history, Anwei’s Candle Yin Eye attacked Han Su, who began considering whether she could help the Ancient Castle team seize control of the Qinggang Council.

• Song Chushi explained that the Copper Text Church could summon the Copper Civilization only through a massive, one-use sacrifice that would devastate both Azure Harbor and the Church.
• Song Chushi revealed that Miss Ai was a powerful historical relic, described as the incarnation of one of the ten disasters in Scroll Number 01, and that she had manipulated his earlier clashes with her.
• Song Chushi relayed Miss Ai’s warning that a war in Azure Harbor would draw him into a trap, where Zhang Chiguo would ally with him and he should help Han Su; she had also said, “The Emperor really exists!”
• Han Su told Song Chushi that ten years earlier he had tried to help Song Yushi escape the Ancient Castle, but she had refused because she had another battlefield to fight on.
• Song Chushi said Miss Ai had three locks open when she arrived in Azure Harbor and that the Qinggang Council and Abyss Studio controlled her permissions; he then left to investigate whether Song Yushi had protected him in historical events.
• After Song Chushi departed, the Candle Yin Eye’s tentacles descended toward Han Su, who faced the attack and considered recruiting Anwei for the Ancient Castle team.

Han Su resisted Anwei’s attempt to contaminate him with the Candle Yin Eye and freed Doctor and Black Tiger from her control. He deliberately held the eye in reality to exhaust Anwei, who responded by summoning a second eye.

• Han Su used the Emperor’s Book to identify Candle Yin and realized its eye was hijacking his mental tentacles.
• Han Su withdrew into the abyss, but discovered that hiding there brought him closer to Candle Yin, so he used his Mental Power to repel its influence.
• Anwei sent Candle Yin’s tentacles to control Doctor and Black Tiger and make them attack Han Su.
• Black Tiger turned his gun on himself, while Doctor’s modified gun would not fire; Han Su caught Black Tiger’s bullet and freed both men from the hijacking.
• Han Su summoned the Candle Yin Eye toward himself and held it in reality to wear Anwei down.
• Anwei recognized Han Su’s plan, refused to back down, and summoned a second Candle Yin Eye despite the danger to herself.

Han Su used the contaminated environment of Bai La Mountain to guide Black Tiger through a rapid advancement to the Stealing level without corrupting his will. As Anwei’s forces closed in, Han Su invited Doctor to become a Copper evangelist, and Doctor began addressing the attackers with Copper doctrine.

• Anwei ordered the Copper Text Church’s Mechanical Ghost legions and her family’s armed forces to hunt Han Su, while also preparing to expose Azure Harbor’s other armed groups.
• Han Su told Doctor and Black Tiger that Anwei had revealed their location, then used scrap metal and the forest’s metallic resonance to help Black Tiger advance to the Stealing level.
• Han Su explained that Black Tiger’s will remained uncorrupted and suggested that Doctor could follow a different path by becoming a Copper evangelist.
• Three squads surrounded the investigators, and Doctor recited Copper doctrine as they charged toward them.

Han Su used the Doctor’s scripture recitation to win over Copper Believers in Bai La Mountain and learned that the Copper Scripture Church planned to build the Door of Reality and Illusion. As the Church began preparations, Han Su considered taking control of the believers so the Door might obey him instead.

• The Doctor’s scripture subdued armed men, who surrendered their weapons and followed him in worship while Han Su watched.
• Han Su reflected on how he had strengthened Black Tiger without distorting his will and used knowledge from the Emperor’s Book to help the Doctor become a powerful scripture chanter.
• The Doctor attracted Copper Believers and Core Believers from the wandering tribe, who accepted him as a saint and followed his preaching.
• Hou Zhi Zhu relayed God’s instructions for building the Door of Reality and Illusion, and Songchai Sacrifice ordered the Copper Believers to gather the required puppets, altars, materials, and followers.
• Han Su considered drawing more than half of Bai La Mountain’s believers to his side so that the Door of Reality and Illusion might obey him even if the Copper Scripture Church built it.

Anwei gave the Copper Text Cult access to Bai La Mountain Mine in exchange for the Mechanical Legion virus, while the gathered Copper Text factions began raising Auxiliary Altars to claim influence. Han Su and Doctor responded by building an altar of their own, introducing the Science Giant Cult as the region’s factions competed for positions.

• Anwei accepted the Mechanical Legion virus from the Copper Text Cult and handed over the mine’s keys, transport access, and requested materials.
• Songchai Sacrifice ordered the Mechanical Buddhas to build the first Auxiliary Altar and use the altars to establish their standing among the Copper Text branches.
• Pastor Chen told Han Su that their influence in Bai La Mountain was about ten percent before Mechanical Buddha’s altar began rising over the town.
• The Mechanical Soul Church, Pillar of Civilization Church, and Chaos City Moving Key Church each raised an Auxiliary Altar as their leaders moved to claim positions.
• Han Su ordered Doctor to build an altar, and their followers assembled a giant statue that they named the Science Giant Cult.

The Copper Text cults gathered in Bai La Mountain to plan the Door of Reality and Illusion, and they decided to use Hou Zhi Zhu to draw out the hidden inheritor. Anwei’s brothers hijacked the supplies she was transporting, but she regained the cults’ trust as they surrounded Hou Zhi Zhu with their Mental Powers.

• Songchai and the other cult leaders debated who would become Chief Priests and agreed that solving the remaining construction problems would determine the positions.
• Songchai named Hou Zhi Zhu as the God's Chosen and proposed using him to bring out the inheritor, while the Soul of Machinery’s Grand Sacrifice threatened to force the inheritor to join them.
• Anwei’s eldest and third brothers hijacked her convoys and threatened to expose the cargo to the Disaster Management Bureau.
• Anwei apologized to the cult leaders and promised to prove she could be trusted, and Songchai accepted her explanation.
• The cult leaders surrounded Hou Zhi Zhu and closed in with their Mental Powers as Anwei recognized that they intended to kill the inheritor.

Han Su discovered that the Copper Believers were uniting the region’s wills to draw out and control Copper’s inheritor, while Qinggang’s authorities learned that Bai La Mountain had become an S-class crisis. The chapter ended with Zhang Chiguo setting out to rescue Han Su, the Council Hall moving to stop him, and Lu Xiaoba watching the conspirators from across the street.

• Han Su explained to Doctor that the cults were combining the region’s wills, and his resistance revealed his presence in Bai La Mountain to the Grand Sacrifices.
• The Grand Sacrifices strengthened their ritual around Hou Zhi Zhu, raised a barrier around Bai La Mountain, and invited the Electronic Secret Society to join them.
• Qinggang learned that Han Su, codenamed Butcher, was trapped in the S-class crisis, but the Council Hall delayed Zhang Chiguo’s request for an armed response.
• Zhang Chiguo suspected someone in Qinggang had delivered Han Su to the Copper Believers and decided to head to Bai La Mountain himself.
• A senior Council Hall official ordered the Armed Forces to stop Zhang Chiguo and told Xiao Wu to act, while Lu Xiaoba watched the official and considered how to kill three targets.

Han Su revealed to Doctor that he wanted the Copper Text Church to build the Door of Reality and Illusion so he could steal it, then went to confront a man in the Bai La Mountain agricultural district. Meanwhile, Anwei killed her two brothers, coerced her father into granting her inheritance and power, and agreed to become the maiden who holds the Holy Scripture of Copper.

• Han Su told Doctor that he wanted the Door of Reality and Illusion for himself and instructed Doctor and Black Tiger to keep investigating until he signaled them.
• Officials in Qinggang argued over an emergency response to the Copper Text Church, but procedural delays had stalled their applications.
• Anwei killed her younger brother, shot her older brother in the leg, and forced Father An to agree to give her the Silence Plan seal, his promised inheritance, and control of key assets.
• Anwei told Songchai Sacrifice that she wanted to become the maiden who holds the Holy Scripture of Copper and gain real power in Qinggang, and he asked whether she understood the price.
• Han Su slipped into the guarded agricultural district and confronted a young man in a farm office, demanding to know which powerful figure in Azure Harbor was behind the operation.

Songchai Sacrifice began the Copper Scripture Holy Text, using Anwei as a vessel to invade Azure Harbor’s reality cradle. As the city descended into chaos, the old gentleman from Lilac Mansion learned that the inheritor was trapped in Bailashan and prepared to return to his faith.

• Songchai Sacrifice explained that Anwei would serve as a vessel for the Mechanical Mother and revealed that the Copper Believers had been searching for a god.
• The acolyte struck the Mechanical Buddha seven times, summoning twenty-two Living Copper Puppets as believers across the Bailashan region recited scripture and Hou Zhi Zhu bore their collective will.
• The sacrifices suspected the hidden inheritor was disguised among the believers and continued the ceremony, bringing Anwei to the altar as the Holy Scripture Maiden.
• The Mechanical Buddha connected its wires to Anwei, who sent a stream of electricity and data through the region’s network to invade Azure Harbor.
• Anwei used the invasion to confront her father, An Zenghui, and demand that he keep his promise to give her his seal.
• The old gentleman from Lilac Mansion learned that the inheritor was trapped in Bailashan and declared that it was time to return to his faith.

Han Su learned that Wu Qi had helped set the Bai La Mountain plans in motion under Secretary Number 5, Chen Gang, while Chen Gang sought to seize Azure Harbor’s power and prepare for a confrontation with Abyss Studio. Anwei took control of Azure Harbor’s systems and received the Mechanical Mother’s consciousness, as the factions at Bai La Mountain prepared to face the Scientific Giant.

• Han Su awakened Wu Qi, who revealed that he had acted for the Crystal Pyramid and that Chen Gang had manipulated him into becoming a piece in the Bai La Mountain plan.
• Wu Qi identified Chen Gang as Secretary Number 5 and explained that Chen Gang wanted to gather Azure Harbor’s authority to negotiate with Abyss Studio and avoid being destroyed in a future conflict.
• Chen Gang told another black-chair holder about his vision of Azure Harbor’s destruction, then contaminated him and declared that he too was a sacrifice.
• Anwei infiltrated Azure Harbor’s Council Hall systems and reached the mysterious machine, while Songchai Sacrifice announced that the Mechanical Mother’s consciousness had descended through her.
• The other altar factions turned toward the Scientific Giant, and someone observed that he was coming to them.
• Wu Qi told Han Su that the Door of Reality and Illusion had to be built and called Second Miss An a madwoman for volunteering to carry out Chen Gang’s plan.